The accident occurred at 2:40 a.m. Wednesday south of Kentwood.
A 29-year-old woman was killed and the driver of an 18-wheeler truck was booked with negligent homicide in a traffic accident on Interstate 55 in Tangipahoa Parish early Wednesday (Nov. 15). The accident occurred south of Louisiana 440, near Kentwood, when the vehicle in which the victim was riding was hit from behind by a 2016 Freightliner tractor-trailer, Louisiana State Police reported.
Killed in the accident was Grace Dianne Magee of Greenwell Springs, who was in the front passenger seat of the 2000 Toyota pickup truck hit by the 18-wheeler. Two other occupants of the pickup truck, including a nine-month-old child, sustained minor injuries in the crash, police said.
Initial findings of a State Police investigation determined that the victim’s mother, Joni Dianne Magee, 51, was driving the Toyota northbound on I-55 in the right lane at 2:40 a.m. when it was hit from behind by the tractor-trailer driven by Dustin M. Curran of Halls, Tenn. The impact pushed Magee’s pickup truck off the right side of the roadway, where it overturned and hit several trees, according to State Police.
Grace Dianne Magee was ejected from the vehicle and sustained fatal injuries. She was pronounced dead on-scene by the Tangipahoa Parish Coroner’s Office. None of the occupants in the Toyota truck were properly restrained at the time of the crash, police said.
As part of the on-going investigation, blood and urine samples were obtained from Joni Magee. The samples will be submitted to the LSP lab for toxicological analysis.
Curran was properly restrained and uninjured in the crash. He provided troopers with a voluntary breath sample, which showed no amounts of alcohol present.
Speed is considered a contributing factor in this crash, police said. Curran was booked into the Tangipahoa Parish Jail for following too closely, negligent homicide and three counts of negligent injuring. Police said any additional charges will be forwarded to the Tangipahoa Parish District Attorney’s Office.
